The first Beatles Christmas record was dstributed by the Official Beatles Fan Club on December 9, 1963. Beginning in 1963, the Beatles started a holiday tradition of recording Christmas messages for their fans. The first Christmas recording from the Beatles featured several renditions of the traditional carol “Good King Wenceslas” and individual messages from the four, ending with a closing chorus of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Ringo”. The recordings were edited and issued on flexi-discs through the Official Beatles Fan Club in England. The records were not available for sale, but were distributed free to Fan Club members. Tony Barrow came up with the concept for the Christmas records and scripted the initial efforts.
The record was packaged in yellow paper gatefold cover. The open gatefold contains the Fun Club’s National Newsletter
Lynton Recordings pressed 25,000 copies of the one-sided seven inch discs, which have white labels with dark blue print. Disc plays at 33 1/3 – rpm. Total time: 5:00. Matrix number LYN 492-1U.
Tony Barrow*: “We sent out this eagerly anticipated Christmas present just in time to beat the seasonal rush. Epstein’s reluctant budget for this venture left us with little cash to spend on a traditional EP sleeve or cover to house the disc. We had to make do with a cheap, vomit-yellow container made from a cheap paper/cellulose mix. It was stapled together and opened too easily. It was a product I was ashamed of. On the other hand, it did the job it was supposed to do and much more. I never intended for the Fan Club Christmas Record to be the annual Beatles Christmas present to their most loyal fans. But this 1963 product would be the first in a series that we recorded and distributed around Britain every December from 1963 to 1969. A rumor once circulated suggesting that I had come up with the idea from the Queen’s Christmas messages to her subjects. “Wow!” I supposedly exclaimed, “why don’t the Beatles do the same and send one out to their fans just before Christmas?” Okay, I have to admit that sounds like a good PR expert’s version of events, but it’s completely wrong. My sole purpose in releasing a ‘Fan Club Christmas Record’ was to restore the club’s reputation among its members. Having run the fan club as a small but essential part of my overall promotional duties, I was well aware that while 30,000 to 80,000 record buyers will never turn an extraordinary record into a No. 1 hit, the same number of votes in a newspaper or magazine popularity poll can turn a loser into a winner and what started as a one-off damage limitation job grew into an eagerly anticipated annual event.
* Anthony F. J. Barrow was an English press attaché who worked with the Beatles from 1962 to 1968. He coined the phrase "Fab Four", first using it in an early press release
It was Barrow's idea to hand out Beatles Christmas cards to members of their fan club. Barrow believed that this gesture of goodwill could limit the damage to the band's reputation caused by delays in responding to constant growing volume of fan mail.
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The second Beatles Christmas record was issued by Official Beatles Fan Club in December 18, 1964. The song “Jingle Bells” is sung, followed by individual messages to the fans. John mocks the prepared statement, doing an imitation of Paul Harvey and includes his own pseudo-words and ad-libbing. When Paul asks him if he wrote this himself, he says, “No it’s somebody’s bad hand-wroter.
The disc was packaged in cardboard sleeve printed and made by MacNeil Press Ltd., London. The back side has text by Tony Barrow, who wrote the liner notes to many of the band’s early albums and EP records.
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The third Beatles Christmas record was issued by Official Beatles Fan Club in December 17, 1965. Several off-key, a cappella versions of “Yesterday” are dispersed throughout the record, alongside Lennon’s “Happy Christmas to Ya List’nas”, “Auld Lang Syne”, a one-and-a-half-line version of the Four Tops’ “It’s the Same Old Song” (which they quickly stop before they violate the copyright) and an original poem titled “Christmas Comes But Once a Year”.
The disc was packaged in cardboard sleeve printed and made by MacNeil Press Ltd., London. The back side has text by Tony Barrow.
The flexi-disc has gold print on a cream label. Due to the record’s running time of 6:20, the disc plays at the slower speed of 33 1/3-rpm. Matrix number LYN 948-1Y.
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The fourth Beatles Christmas record “Pantomime: Everywhere It’s Christmas” was issued by Official Beatles Fan Club in December 25, 1966. Recorded between sessions for Strawberry Fields Forever, for the 1966 offering, the usual greetings and thanks gave way to a Pantomime – themed collection of original songs and dramatic skits. The songs include “Everywhere It’s Christmas”, “Orowainya”, and “Please Don’t Bring Your Banjo Back”. The sketches performed include “Podgy the Bear and Jasper” and “Felpin Mansions”.
The disc was packaged in cardboard sleeve printed and made by MacNeil Press Ltd., London. The front is an abstract color painting designed by Paul McCartney.
The record was packaged with the National Newsletter for Christmas 1966.
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'Christmas Time Is Here Again!'
TheBeatles Christmas Time Is Here Again Cover With Sgt Pepper being a landmark six months previous they showed the same ambition for this Christmas message where they adopt another persona (The Ravellers) and gently mock the BBC itself.
And of course it came in a cover emblematic of its psychedelic period.
It was the last time they would be so unified at Christmas.
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The Beatles Sixth Christmas Records 1968 showed a band going very much their separate ways. Kenny Everett was given the task of knitting together a Christmas disc out of the bits the Beatles recorded separately.
Recorded in November 1968 at the London homes of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and in the back of Ringo’s diesel-powered removal van, somewhere in Surrey. The voice of George harrison is heard because the G.P.O. did something right and joined up 6,000 miles of telephone links at an appropriate moment. It was noteworthy for being the first Beatles Christmas fan club disc the boys recorded separately.
The 1968 Christmas recording was unique because unlike previous fan club recordings the flexi disk was double-sided. And while all of the 1963 through 1967 flexi’s had paper record labels, the 1968 disks had the information printed right on the black flexi disk with white ink.
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“The Beatles Seventh Christmas Record” was the seventh and last of those tracks, recorded for Christmas 1969. It was released as a 2-sided flexi-disc.
Everett again weaves together a Christmas record with messages by four men who are almost past caring for the band, the project and each other.
Ringo plugs the movie he is in (The Magic Christian), Lennon and Ono talk to each other, McCartney offers a Christmas jingle and Harrison sounds like he'd rather be elsewhere (and by this time he usually was).
The final Beatles Christmas offering was also recorded separately, as the band had effectively split by this point. It features an extensive visit with Lennon and his wife Yoko at their Tittenhurst Park estate, where they play “what will Santa bring me?” games. Harrison and Ringo Starr appear only briefly, the latter to publicise his recent film, The Magic Christian. McCartney sings his original ad-lib, “This is to Wish You a Merry, Merry Christmas.” Starting at 1:30, at the tail-end of Starr’s song, the guitar solos from “The End” are heard, followed by Ono interviewing Lennon.
For the only time, the North American and UK album sleeve jackets were identical. The North American version of the flexi-disc had an elaborate collage of the Beatles’ faces on it (drawn by Ringo), while the rear album sleeve contained stick-figure scribbles made by his son, Zak Starkey.
It was the final Beatles' record for Christmas because by 1970 they were no more.
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Complete Christmas Collection 1963-1969 (2017)
1963: “The Beatles’ Christmas Record” (one-sided, 5:00 TRT) Recorded 17 October 1963 – Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
1964: “Another Beatles Christmas Record” (one-sided, 3:58 TRT) Recorded 26 October 1964 – Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
1965: “The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record” (one-sided, 6:20 TRT) Recorded 8 November 1965 – Studio Two, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
1966: “Pantomime – Everywhere It’s Christmas: The Beatles’ Fourth Christmas Record” (one-sided, 6:36 TRT) Recorded 25 November 1966 – Dick James Music, New Oxford Street, London
1967: “Christmas Time (Is Here Again): The Beatles’ Fifth Christmas Record” (one-sided, 6:06 TRT) Recorded 28 November 1967 – Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
1968: “The Beatles’ Sixth Christmas Record” (two-sided, 7:48 TRT) Recorded 1968, various locations
1969: “The Beatles’ Seventh Christmas Record” (two-sided, 7:39 TRT) Recorded 1969, various locations
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